A stenographic machine is a device used by court reporters to record the proceedings of a court or a deposition in a silent and efficient manner. The basic stenographic machine has been in use for over 40 years. These basic stenographic machines are shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,319,273; 2,387,330; 2,392,078; and 2,292,781. Originally stenographic machines would record exclusively onto a paper tape. Modern stenographic machines have adapted the basic mechanism to digital computer technology through the addition of such items as floppy disk drives, random access computer memories, internal modems and the like. Despite the addition of such technological advancements, the basic mechanical mechanism has remained essentially unchanged.
Generally the stenographic machine includes a number of keys which correspond to phonic symbols to produce an output to be typed onto the tape or recording medium. The output is a row of letters arranged in a specialized shorthand notation. Successive phonic symbols are recorded in a subsequent row slightly below the preceding symbol. Thus it may be readily apparent that a relatively simple sentence may produce an output having several inches of paper tape length. Accordingly, it will also be readily apparent that during the course of a court proceeding the stenographic recording is extremely voluminous.
It may also be appreciated that there will be times during the court proceeding in which the stenographer operating the stenographic machine will be requested to locate and re-read a previously recorded portion of the proceeding. This process requires the stenographer to look back through the volume of tape produced, find the appropriate section, and read it to the court. It would be useful if the stenographer had a means for producing markers or flags which could be readily located on the tape to assist the stenographer in finding a previously entered transcription. Thus, for example, it would be advantageous if each witnesses testimony could be separated by a marker or a flag which could be readily found by the stenographer. Accordingly, the present invention is directed a stenographic machine which includes a means for placing a flag or marker on the stenographic record.